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Sunday, 30 December 2012

Some impression about Agra and urban decay in India

Shri
Rajeev Gupta, one of the Face Book friends, is socially alive person and thinks
a lot about improving the status of Agra –as a world-class heritage city, about
its hygiene and public life, about which I have already briefly indicated in
one of my recent posts. These posts, accompanied by lots of photographs, were
created and posted soon after the conclusion of my 5 day sojourn to Agra, which
in itself proved revealing to me. Rajeev called on phone to tell about the
views of Devashis Bhattacharya, a Jaipur based businessperson, about tourism in
Rajasthan and Agra. What he said may be third person account and not wholly a
reproduction of what transpired between the two but the gist is that in the
context of tourism –management, service provisions, representation of
multi-media and inter-personal communication, Rajasthan is far superior and
ahead of UP. There can be various manageable and non-manageable issues about
the status of tourist attractions and facilities in addition to the management
of the tourist sites and monuments in the two large states of the Indian Union
but, nonetheless, my own experience supports the opinion of Mr. Bhattacharya. I
have also widely covered several districts of Rajasthan and fairly exposed
myself about its rural environs. To myself it appears that in matters of
hygiene and order in public spaces Rajasthan offers a far comfortable
environment than many cities of UP. In Rajasthan both the rural as well as
urban spaces are neat and clean whereas in UP it is filth in most densely
populated urban spaces, particularly the cities that have monuments and sites
of great heritage value such as Agra, Allahabad and Benaras. Agra Development
Agency might have put in huge financial as well as human resources to improve
the urban environment through Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNnURM) but could not achieve much.
Whereas Agra has borne too much pressure from both native and foreign tourists,
the challenge was equal for Rajasthan. In terms of ancient Hindu science of Vastu that helped founding fathers to
establish new cities, Agra was an ideal place as the source of water flows on
its northeastern fringes. But this water source called Jamuna, is full of filth
nowadays and affords a despicable sight rather than arousing honorable feelings.
We can admire the life in the city as pure form of Indian history and tradition
but, perhaps, a comparison with a few admired cities of Rajasthan such as
Jaisalmer and Udaipur is not fair. What is true about the environment of life and
visual character in old sectors of Agra is also true about Jodhpur, the Pink
City (Jaipur), Bikaner, Bharatpur (Lohagarh) and a few residential mohallas of
Udaipur too, particularly near Baghor ki Haveli. I can say this because as per
my habit I traversed on foot the length and breadth of old sectors of the above
town and documented it too. And it is happening with the towns of Rajasthan
despite the fact that its govt has long back created a 20-year Vision Document
for the development of tourism. UP has none.

Now
if Mr Bhattacharya and me too are taken seriously, will the governments in UP
and Rajasthan listen?

To a
non-resident of Agra or a person from other States of the Indian federation the
first indicator of an Indian town’s status in modern times is, obviously, the
level of public health, cleanliness and hygiene, order in movement and
management of traffic and, of course, a disciplined civil life. Therefore, the
outer visual inputs play a critical role in providing a quick assessment of the
outlook.

When I
looked at these indicators for old sectors of Agra, it dawned on me that my
city Rohtak is far more orderly, spacious and clean in spite of the fact the
growth of Agra has been phenomenon in the past one and a half decades. Whereas
massive efforts of rebuilding the infrastructure for Rohtak by the present
Hooda Government have certainly provided the city a clean and elegant look. The
second phase of the massive funding for building infrastructure in Rohtak took
place after a gap of nearly 170 years. Rohtak was afforded the status of a
separate district in 1943 and for the next 40 years or so various old type
structures were raised to accommodate public offices. Thereafter many were run
from rented buildings. In these years the old rickety buildings became so
fragile and dilapidated as cried either for massive repair or demolition. The
Hooda government preferred the latter option.

Pollution
created by vehicles depends on the number of vehicles on roads, smoother
movement and the level of technology. In all the major or medium towns of India
air pollution has become a menace and great nuisance these days but in a
democratic and open market society such as we are terms and lifestyle cannot be
dictated for opting public preferences. In the context of Mr. Bhattacharya’s
observation about Rajasthan in comparison to Agre, let it be said that even the
smaller kasbas in Rajasthan are now witness
to similar blitz as big cities such as Kanpur and Delhi. From 1997 to this date
I have extensivly documented 22 ‘Thikanaas’
of the Shekhawati region in northern Rajasthan comprised of three districts viz
Churu, Jhunjhunu and Sikar. One and a half decades ago when I had started
visiting the smaller towns of these districts such as Fatehpur, Ratangarh,
Sujangarh, Nawalgarh, Khandela, Udaipurwati, Mandawa, Ramgarh, Bissau, Khetri
and Mahansar etc, the life in them appeared slow and sleepy, much like any village
in India. These places are now bustling with activity. Although big tourism is
still far away for these small towns but, of course, the locals have bought
vehicles and most towns that are situated on or near the highways have seen
modern day urban sprawl, neglecting the interior sectors that once used to be the
pride of these people in the form of the best that traditional Indian art and
architecture had to offer. As concrete replaced the sandy alleys for internal navigation
water began to flow along the walls of havelis in garbage-filled channels. The
seepage started damaging the foundation of magnificent mansions of yore. All
sort of vehicles that plied the whole day spilled black smoke from exhausts
leaving an indelible impression on the fascia of the painted havelis marring
beauty and magnificence. The fescoes on many a haveli have borne the brunt of
the vehicular traffic in addition to weathering and aging. Hundreds of tiny
shops have come up covering even the podiums and facade of havelis located on
the outer fringes of all the above-indicated small towns. Almost all
shopkeepers now feel comfortable in displaying their merchandize and fast food
packets in a dangling mode unaware of the fact that it becomes an intolerable
visual encroachment. As per habit most Indians throw rappers and tetra packs hither
and thither as soon as the foodstuff has been consumed. It has a huge menacing
potential because it takes several decades’ time before the natural forces
disintegrate the plastic, plastic coating and the aluminum coating to make it
possible to be absorbed into the soil. However, a casual disposal certainly
chokes our drains and spoils the passages and roads. The sweepers’ community
has ever been an untrained lousy lot in India and, therefore, the litter is
never properly disposed of.

On the other
hand Agra is also not free from the suffocating articles of the modern era and
several heaps of stinking garbage along the drains that must have been recently
excavated from the half-open nullahs (sewage
water drains) could be seen lying in the vicinity of the Red Fort and Jama
Masjid.

The
architectural heritage of the Mughal era at Agra, Sikandara and Fatehpur Sikri
are looked after very well by the Archaeological Survey of India but the extreme
pressure from the tourism activity in the last two decades has left its ugly mark
as millions of footfalls in these great edifices have bruised and rubbed the upper
surface of stone slabs of the floors. Corners and cornices have turned shabby because
visiting crowds feel pleasure touching the wall or sadistically slipping the
hand over them or caressing an embellishment of artwork. I asked many a person
in old Agra if they have ever thoroughly seen all the monuments and appreciated
them as sentinels of history. They looked almost blank as if I had put a
bizarre query. One of them said that all the locals have been watching it since
childhood but most of them never felt the urge to see the interiors.Almost all the open spaces and roadsides
outside the monuments at Agra have been encroached or occupied by vendors and
taxis in waiting. Not long ago, in 1999, I had entered the Taj from the eastern
gate and was delighted to see that was not a single shops on the road up to the
JALMA Hospital, now called National JALMA Institute for Leprosy and other
Mycobacterial Diseases, a renowned laboratory of Indian Council of Medical
Research. The entire area on this as well as the Fatehabad road was as open as
a playground. The riverfront in the rear of the Taj, which could be approached
through an approach road, is open but a few ugly service structures of service
quarters a temple have come up. In just over a decade the open spaces have vanished
giving way to hotels of all categories, curio shops, small teashops run from
shanties or Rehris, housing colonies and buildings of other sorts. It has been
an amazing revelation to see the urban growth of India since 1995, which has
posed several unique and unmanageable problems for us, particularly new
challenge if the sprawl affects the immediate environs of a historical and
heritage value monument and disturbs its skyline such as the heritage city of
Agra and Fatehpur Sikri. However, the skyline of the Mughal structures of yore
at Agra could not been affected because of their massive size but the
environment around them has certainly deteriorated. Traffic jams in major
arterial roads in Agra has become a daily feature, particularly at the Sai ka
Takia, MG Road, Bhagwan Talkies, Khandari, Chhipi Tola, Purani Mandi Mod, Belangunz,
Jama Masjid, Red Fort Station and Bizli Ghar. Respite from jams is a far away
objective for ADA.

Since the
times the British came over to Agra, sometime in the late eighteenth century, and
developed the Mall road area into a planned agglomeration of the old city, many
utility buildings for official, religious and residential purpose were erected.
The British era buildings have both English as well as Indian architectural
features; a few of them made to appear pleasing to the eye with embellishments
done in stucco or dressed brick. For example the buildings of the Cecil House, the
GPO, bungalows and the Churches are worth appreciating. The openness of the
sectors developed and settled during the British era need to be carefully
preserved for posterity as it belongs to the local history of Agra. I could see
many old bungalows turned into Hotels such as Agra Hotel and many demolished to
give way to multistory business complexes. There should be a ban on such
activities as mars the discipline of the space or alters the use.

In the above
context, mention must be made of Fatehpur Sikri and Sikandara, which I will do
in the next installment.

About Me

I am a cultural historian and looking for dedicated friends who work in documenting the cultural heritage of India both tangible and intangible. I am life member of INTACH, Science writer, author, contributor, frequent traveller, photographer, lecturer, friendly, sharp minded, caring and physically robust. Likes simple, traditional Indian food and company of young, energetic and absultely nationalistic people.